China crushes Uzbekistan in women's water polo preliminaries at Hangzhou Asiad

HANGZHOU, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- China dominated the pool with an easy 33-5 victory over Uzbekistan in the women's water polo preliminary round at the 19th Asian Games here on Monday.

China showed their aggression from the beginning of the game by blocking Uzbekistan's passes and scoring chances before storming to a 17-2 lead at half time.

Despite Uzbekistan's efforts, they still couldn't find an effective attacking method to narrow the gap in the second half.

The women's water polo competition which contains seven teams will run from September 25 to October 1 at the Huanglong Sports Centre. The gold medal winner will claim the Asian berth at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

China, Kazakhstan and Japan are the major medal contenders, with China winning all three Asian Games gold medals since 2010.

"We are heading for the gold this time. we will get well prepared and have the confidence to defeat other teams," said Chinese player Xiong Dunhan.

In other games on Monday, Japan crushed South Korea 33-2, Kazakhstan beat Singapore 12-6.

China will face Singapore on Tuesday.